Peter the Great and His Lifetime

Peter the Great did many things in his lifetime, but he was most known for the Westernization of Russia. Peter made his way into Russia in 1682, Peter wanted to change Russia into a more modernized country, and he had his own way of doing this. It was Peter’s way, or no way. He figured the best way to obtain the European powers was to become just like them. When he started his process to westernize Russia he sent fifty nobles to Western Europe and had them learn the culture and lifestyle. There were many ways peter could have gone about changing Russia but he sought his own way, which was also a very independent route. Peter not only wanted to change Russia, but he wanted total control as well. Peter insisted that everyone, including people of nobility, change there lifestyle into the ways of the western world. Peter gained control and power through his military, which helped him gain control over Russia entirely. So what exactly is Westernization? Westernization is incorporating the culture and technology of the modernized western world. Peter wanted all of Russia to be converted and changed for good, not just temporarily. Putting a country through this type of change wasn’t an easy task and took a lot of hard work, studying and communication. The whole purpose of doing these things also made Peter more money in the long run. Peter sought to reform the way the world perceived Russia by increasing the power of the church and military, raising education standards and imposing taxes that would eventually lead to the Westernization of Russia.

The education and the churches were a big part in the Westernization of Russia. Peter was determined to push Russia towards the modern era by reforming the church. One of the main reasons Pete...

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...ke sure the taxes were being paid and all the rules were followed. The way the tax worked was if someone ran off without paying their tax the village they were from was responsible for paying the tax back. A lot of the villagers would keep a close eye on male residents around the time when the soul tax was due that way they weren't responsible for paying anything extra when the time came. The army had the responsibility of making a list of all the males in Russia to keep count on how many must be charged at the time of the tax. The list was so hard to complete it wasn’t finished until 1724 the year before Peter the Great dies. Peter went to great lengths to make sure his taxes were paid for and he made his cut on it. The military not only financed on taxes like the soul tax but also on individual taxes such as the beard tax and on other items such as horse collars.